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I thought I'd try to stop arguing with Winter and say something more constructive.

I never said staying in frame wasn't a skill. I clearly stated the discussion about it being a skill relevant to VF is dumb. It's not a universally fair aspect of VF and therefore should be minimized within the context of the competition to assure VF continues to stay about kiting. Different cameras, different line lengths, and different flying spots all help to determine how much this 'skill' matters to your success in VF and may vary quite a bit pilot to pilot.

If you want to eliminate this as a variable in your enjoyment, participation, and/or domination of (should your skills be at such a level) VF, follow these simple rules:

1. Camera placement. BEHIND THE PILOT. There are many reasons to put your camera close to the kite. Maybe you don't like seeing the pilot/yourself awkwardly tugging on lines or others want to see your/their kite better. Like it or not, this is one of the easiest things to change about how you film for VF. Staying in frame is easier if the camera is placed behind the pilot. The farther back, the easier it is to stay in frame because more of your flying window is covered by the field of view of the camera.

2. Line length. SHORT. Fly with the shortest lines you feel comfortable with flying. The shorter your lines, the smaller your flying window. Therefore, you need to capture less airspace on film. This adjustment, in combination with #1 can easily allow you to eliminate nearly all possibility of flying out of frame.

Anyone so inclined can draw out a trig problem using real values for the filming angle of the camera (how wide of an angle your camera can shoot) and line length and literally calculate how far behind the pilot the camera should be placed in order to completely avoid out of frame moments while maximizing the use of the frame. You might even say the skill of staying in frame is more of a math skill or a filming skill than a kiting skill...until you move the camera close enough to the kite that it becomes more dependent on kiting skill.

There are other things which will help (like a taller tripod or other raised camera position), but for solo pilots without possibility of a camera crew, these two adjustments will make a huge difference.

My other tip which I think really can help is to land regularly. Every time you land while filming, you give yourself another possible start point. If you nail all those hard tricks...but you haven't landed less than 90 seconds before that...it's not an entry. And that is painful when it happens.

obi

« Last Edit: January 14, 2011, 02:38 AM by obijuankenobe »

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"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." L daVinci

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